The Monster Bestiary of Aokoa
Here there be monsters U’oa Size: 50ft First Sighted Location: Moro Reef Lore: What is a fantastical biome without a terrifying apex predator? In the outskirts of the Moro Reef islands and throughout the Southern Hemisphere stalks the u’oa, a massive descendant of a Kronosaurus- like animal. It is a rare animal that reproduces rarely, though it is still a force to be reckoned with and it an be found in any part of the world. They are teal and black animals with many long dorsal fins, spines along their jaws, and hard bony protrusions on their skulls to protect their eyes and brains. Fifty feet long with a powerful bone shattering bite, the u’oa stalks the oceans hunting whales and giant squid, and even ships if they’re mistaken for whales. The Tao’oi are sometimes attacked by these animals, though not when they stay close together in large pods. These animals are reason enough however for the Tao’oi to have invented bone spears, daggers, and other weapons their size made from naturally found materials. A u’oa hunting spear for example would be made from the spine of a u’oa , with a spear tip made from squid beak, sharpened bone, or even Moroi fin blades if the maker found a dead body. The Tao’oi most often hunt juvenile u’oa rather than adults. The u’oa are viviparous and give birth to roughly two to three pups every three to four years at most. Link: Moroi Marine Fauna Post Creator: TechnicolorTraveler The Sea Holder Size: Mature specimens are 27 metres Largest specimen 107 metres from front of body to tip of tentacles. First Sighted Location: Waters around the island of Hive Neuw of Ko Lore: At its core, the sea-holder evolved as an abyssal ambush predator. The bulk of the animal’s organs are held within a spherical, smooth, blackened body. The majority of the face is taken up by a large, bio-luminescent ‘floodlight’, which stretches over about three quarters of the front-facing surface. The floodlight looks like an eye, due to the black ring set upon it, but is in fact a tool used to stun prey that gets too close to allow for consumption. An ‘eyelid’ blocks out the light when not in use. When it is unneeded, the eyelid closes, and the glowing fluid within it dims. Below this lure is the mouth. The sea-holder has twelve ‘stalks’, each of which stem from the creature’s back. When motionless, attempting to attract prey, these stalks face forward, in front of the face, and when moving, they face in the same direction as the tentacles. Each tentacle ends in a bio-luminescent bulb, with the same dark ring- like pattern on them that the floodlight does, though their light glows softer than that of the floodlight’s, and they cannot be closed or switched off. The stalks also have suckers on the underside to drag unwilling prey into the mouth. The tentacles are a little longer than the stalks, and are used almost entirely for locomotion. Like the stalks, there are twelve of them, but they do not have suckers or lures attached, and are thinner in diameter. At birth, the first real danger to the life of the sea-holder appears: its clutch mates. In a frenzied battle royale, the top 1 percent consume the other 99, and the survivors then swim away fatter and larger than before. This generally takes place over a few days, where rapid growth occurs. After this point, the feeding stage begins. For about 20 years, the sea-holder will attempt to consume as much food as possible, in order to grow as large as it can. Growth slows massively after the initial frenzy, and for many years the creature is still quite vulnerable to predators. For this reason, it sticks closely to the abyssal layer where it is born. At first, it mainly scavenges, but when it reaches around 2m long, the lures and floodlight start blazing bright enough to allow for ambush predation. Later, once maturity is reached, it starts calling for a mate while rising closer to the surface. The higher up a sea-holder is, the larger it usually is, and at this point it begins to switch to active predation until a mate is found. If a mate is found, the two sink back towards the abyss before beginning the reproductive ritual. When the mother’s eggs hatch, she slowly rises up as she did before, repeating the active predation strategy. At this point, whales, sharks, and even boats full of sapients are attacked and consumed whole. Link: The Sea Holder Creator: /u/TheJungleDragon Selaculdi Size: up to 21 meters (reportedly) First Sighted Location: The Littera Sea (the waters between the HCEPAGLASSDUW and Daarbelijk) Lore: The Selaculdi is a predatory fish living in tropical and temperate waters. They somewhat resemble angel sharks, making them resemble rays, though they are in fact related to sharks. Their bodies are pretty flat and they mostly lie camouflaged on the sea floor and wait for prey - basically anything - to swim by it. Most of the Selaculdi are only a few meters long, but a few of them are known to grow exceptionally large - so far, the largest known specimen caught has been 16 meters, but a few stories tell of some as large as 21 meters. If not hunted they are able to grow quite large and some may find a place to dwell near small fishing town, where they can attack the smaller ships. They are known for playing a role in folk lore in the HCEPAGLASSDUW and areas with lots of contact with it due to the Selaculdi somewhat resembling a monk or a church official. Link: Calling all Monsters Creator: /u/GotUsernameFirstTry Template (name of creature) Size: the size of the creature in meters or feet First Sighted Location: your claim area Lore: no more than a couple paragraphs, if you have a lot of information make a post about it and link it Link: the link to the post that introduces it. Nothing is canon until it’s posted on the subreddit. Creator: your username. Take credit for your work!